Amazon Locker set to double its footprint over 12 months, report says

It’s becoming increasingly challenging to stay up to date on all the ways Amazon is prepared to deliver your packages these days. Amazon Counter is one of the lastest options, but Amazon Locker is perhaps the most widespread, with an even more significant rollout on the way according to recent reports. Primarily located in Whole Foods, but available at varying other locations in the United States, it appears Amazon’s Locker delivery system is set for a considerable expansion in 2020, potentially doubling its footprint by the end of next year. If you’re not at all familiar with Amazon Locker, you’ll find more details below on this underused by soon-to-expand service.

What is Amazon Locker?

Amazon began building out its Locker delivery initiative a few years and subsequently ramped it up when Whole Foods was purchased. The premise is simple; if you have an eligible delivery location in your area, Amazon packages can be sent to these storage bins for pickup at your leisure. For apartment dwellers, gift-givers, and others, this may be an easy way to ensure that prying eyes stay out of your deliveries while also enjoying greater flexibility for pick-up.

Those interested in leveraging Amazon Locker on their next delivery need to choose it as a destination at checkout. Find a locker in advance, add it to your Amazon address book, and it will then become a readily available option for delivery on future purchases.

Set to double inventory over the coming year

Amazon split with FedEx earlier this year as a delivery partner. While the online giant has been said to be ramping up its delivery service, rolling out more Amazon Locker locations is likely a more suitable and economical move in the short-term. While you can already find Amazon Lockers in hotels, Whole Foods, and convenience stores, there’s still plenty of room out there for these brightly-colored boxes.

There are currently 10,000 Locker locales in the United States, but a new report from CNET points to rumblings that Amazon will be doubling that number in the next 12 months. This will be a significant expansion that will put the storage systems in more corners of the 50 states than ever before.

While it may seem like this will primarily benefit Amazon, and it will, there are also benefits for brick and mortar retailers. We’ve already seen Kohl’s enter into a partnership with Amazon to handle returns. It would be much of the same for other retailers prepared to make similar arrangements. It’s an excellent way to bring in foot traffic, and it expands Amazon’s reach even further.

Have you used Amazon Locker before? Let us know about your experience in the comments below.

Source: CNET